


Special

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 13:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13571130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Prompt #23- Tail. I tweaked it a little location-wise.





	Special

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #23- Tail. I tweaked it a little location-wise.

 

Someone was watching her. Emiri had a very well developed sense for when she was under scrutiny, and right now it was almost overwhelming. She glanced over her shoulder, but didn’t see anyone who looked suspicious. Then again, there _were_ plenty of people in the streets of Hearthsong, and she _was_ something of an anomaly. It had probably just been a lingering look directed at the god-touched, abnormally tall woman. She was used to that.

So Emiri brushed it off and kept walking toward the Celestial Sapling. The agreed-upon free hour was almost up, and everyone was supposed to be regrouping to plan their next step. Seeing as she was the leader of the group, it wouldn’t do for her to be late. Especially over an unwarranted case of the heebie-jeebies because some Glanfathan had heard too many stories about the godlike and how special they were.

But then she felt it again. She was being watched. Not with any malevolence, far as she could tell, just curiosity. There were fewer people on the path she’d turned down, so Emiri decided to play the odds and looked again for her shadow.

It paid off. With the thinner crowds, she was able to catch a glimpse of a small figure stepping hastily into the shadows of a building when she turned around. Gotcha. She reversed course and headed slowly for the roughly constructed house. Hopefully she wouldn’t scare off whoever it was and find out what they wanted.

There was worried gasp from the shadows as she approached, and Emiri held up a forestalling hand. “Please don’t run. I just want to talk.”

A beat of silence followed as her watcher wavered between running for it and stepping into view. The latter won, and a tawny-furred orlan girl emerged from the shadows, fingers nervously playing with one of her narrow teal braids. She stood there, biting her lip and looking like she was still thinking about bolting.

Emiri crouched down to lessen the height difference between them. She couldn’t erase it entirely, but she knew how intimidating it could be when someone was looming. “Can I help you with something?”

The girl shook her head, but edged ever so slightly closer.

“My name’s Emiri, and I promise I’m nice,” she said gently.

“Pretty name,” the girl mumbled.

“Thank you. What’s yours?”

“Siobahn.”

“That’s very pretty, too,” Emiri said, and smiled as some of the tension drained from from Siobahn’s posture. “Well, if you didn’t need help with anything, Siobahn, what can I do for you?”

“Um...” Siobahn tugged on her braid. “I-I was wonderin’ if you were really touched by th’ gods?”

“That’s what people tell me,” Emiri said wryly. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to the gods yet and ask them to be sure.”

The girl giggled. “My parents said bein’ touched by the gods makes you special.”

Sensing that this was a roundabout way of getting to the heart of things, Emiri nodded and chose her words carefully. “That’s true, in a way. We look different, maybe have things we can do that most people can’t, but we’re also just like other people in a lot of ways. We get hungry, tired, happy, sad. We have favorite foods and people we care about.”

“You have friends?” Siobahn asked, biting her lip.

Emiri smiled. “I do. I was actually on my way to meet with some of them.”

“Good.” Siobahn nodded decisively. She hesitated, then clasped her hands together behind her back as she explained, “My brother was born... like you. Only green. Mom and Dad said he was touched by the gods an’ that made him special. But they sent him to live with the Fisher Crane out in th’ bog. They said it’s ‘cause he’s prob’ly good with magic an’ Fisher Crane are the best with trainin’ druids, but I think it was maybe ‘cause of the looks our neighbors gave him.” She paused to dig at the dirt with her toes. “I just wanted to make sure he could have friends. Didn’t want him to be lonely.”

“Well, if he’s as nice as you, I’m sure he does,” Emiri replied, hoping it was true. It sounded like Siobahn’s brother was a nature godlike, which were not looked on near as favorably as moon godlike, for superstition and other reasons. Still, druids were usually the exception to that, so maybe he was alright. “I’ll bet he has lots of friends.”

“I hope so,” Siobahn sighed. “I heard lotsa stories when I was little that people born like Blaidd were... sick, somehow. If other tribes have stories like that, maybe no one likes him.” 

“All it takes is one or two people who decide to see for themselves instead of just listening to the stories and he’ll be alright,” Emiri reassured her. “They’ll see he’s _not_ sick or diseased and he’ll make friends with no trouble.”

Siobahn looked relieved. “People said you’re honest, so I believe you.”

Emiri smiled. “Was that all you wanted?”

Siobahn nodded, then wrinkled her nose. “Actually... um, your, um, halo thing is really pretty with the way it glows an’ all, an’ I was wonderin’ if I could touch it?”

Most cultures frowned on staring too openly at a godlike’s features, let alone asking to touch them. But a pre-teen Glanfathan girl was about as far from ‘most cultures’ as you could get, and Emiri appreciated her honest curiosity. The compliment hadn’t hurt, either. Her smile widened as she leaned even lower to bring her head into the girl’s reach.

“Sure,” she nodded, and watched as Siobahn reached out hesitantly. Her touch was light on the encircling growth, though whether out of trepidation or desire to be gentle Emiri couldn’t tell.

“I thought it’d be warm,” Siobahn commented as she withdrew her hand. “‘Cause of the glowing. But it’s not.” She clasped her hands behind her back again. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Emiri straightened. “And thank you for being gentle.” She hadn’t always been so lucky. 

Siobahn smiled brightly. “Welcome. I gotta go home now, ‘fore Ma starts worrying.”

“I need to go meet my friends,” Emiri nodded, standing. “It was very nice to meet you, though, Siobahn.”

“Nice to meetcha, too,” the girl beamed. “An’ thanks for the help.” She darted off back towards the marketplace before Emiri could say anything more.

Emiri watched her go, a bemused smile tugging the corners of her lips. _No wonder I didn’t see her right away..._ Between her size and her coloring, Siobahn blended in to her surroundings very well, and was also quite nimble darting around people. _Good qualities for a hunter,_ Emiri thought as she resumed course for the Celestial Sapling. She needed to hurry or she’d be late.

She wasn’t late, but she was the last one back. She arrived in the middle of Hiravias spinning a progressively more implausible story as the group waited, and slid into the empty seat next to Aloth with a silent smile.

He nodded in greeting and nudged a somewhat worn looking tankard toward her, murmuring, “We ordered you a drink.”

“Thank you,” Emiri replied just as quietly, so as not to interrupt Hiravias’ story.  “Any reason in particular he’s spinning a load of rubbish?”

“He and Kana are attempting to determine which of them knows the tallest tall tale,” Aloth explained in an undertone. “Sagani contributed a couple before deciding it was more fun as part of the audience.”

“I see.” She tasted her drink and grinned. Rauatai sherry. “You know me so well.”

Aloth rolled his eyes. “I _have_ to do something about your tastes in drinks.”

Emiri giggled and took another large swallow of her sherry. “Or you could accept me with my flaws, ‘cause that’s what friends do.”

“Mmm, true. And as flaws go, that’s not a grievous one,” he allowed with a smile.

“Alright,” Sagani spoke up as Hiravias finished. “Before you two continue this highly entertaining battle of bullshit, everyone’s here now, so we should figure out what we’re doing.”

It didn’t take terribly long to work things out. They needed to talk to the anamfath, both for access to the other districts and for Pallegina’s mission, needed to follow Thaos, needed to travel out in the surrounding forest so Sagani could look for Persoq, and they’d picked up a few more small tasks people wanted them to help with. Their discussion was mostly just figuring out the most efficient way to accomplish everything they wanted to do. Access to the other districts was clearly important, and so the anamfath became their first stop.

Emiri pulled Hiravias aside as they filed out of the inn to try and meet with the Glanfanthan leadership. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something...”

“And what would that be, Watcher?” He sounded wary, as if expecting his people’s culture or customs to come under scrutiny.

He wasn’t _entirely_ wrong. “You’re from the Fisher Crane tribe, right? What’s their attitude toward godlike?”

“Pretty close to the rest of the world, from what I’ve seen,” Hiravias shrugged.  “Maybe a little better with the nature variants than most. The druids think they have a closer connection to the natural world, and it helps them learn druid abilities faster. Why?”

“I, uh, made a new friend in the marketplace,” Emiri explained. “Her brother is godlike, so she was asking me if ‘people like me’ can have friends, stuff like that. Given that she said her brother was like me, only green, I figure he’s a nature godlike. And he was sent to the Fisher Crane tribe, so I’m just hoping I didn’t lie when I said he’s probably fine.”

“I don’t think you did,” Hiravias shook his head. “He might wind up lonely, but they won’t try to kill him or anything. ‘Specially if they think they can train him  as a druid. He’ll be alright.”

“Good,” Emiri sighed in relief. She felt better hearing it from someone who actually knew the culture. “Thank you. That’s all I wanted to know.”

“Back to our business, then,” he said with a smirk.

“Back to our business,” she repeated as she followed him up the steps.

She knew there was an outside chance they were wrong; that Siobahn’s brother was the wrong kind of special and would be miserable, barely tolerated, or outcast. But Emiri had never been one to dwell on the negative. It was a large part of how she’d survived what she did. _No, Siobahn’s brother is fine.  I’m not going to second guess myself._

 _Optimism bordering on naivete,_ she smirked, fully aware the world was rarely so kind _. Just one more thing that makes me special._


End file.
